Jayhawks to Host Golden Eagles Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Nov. 13, 2006
KU game notes for ORU in PDF Format
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For the second straight game, two teams predicted to win their respective conferences will be squaring off in Allen Fieldhouse. Big 12 Conference preseason pick Kansas (1-0) plays host to Mid-Continent Conference choice Oral Roberts (0-1). Kansas’ Bill Self spent his first years as a head coach at Oral Roberts from 1994-97 and current ORU head coach Scott Sutton was on his staff there in 1995-96.
About Kansas
Kansas (1-0) won its season opener, 91-57, over Big Sky Conference favorite Northern Arizona last Saturday. Five Jayhawks reached double figures in scoring led by sophomore guard Brandon Rush with 21. Sophomore forward Julian Wright added 16 points and freshman guard Sherron Collins scored 14. Big men Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur each added 12 points in the winning effort. Wright and Jackson paced KU with eight rebounds each while Rush and Arthur pulled down six rebounds in the game. The victory was KU’s 34th straight home-opening win and 15th season-opening win in the last 16 years. Collins received the first start of his career, while the game marked the return of Mario Chalmers, who missed the second exhibition contest due to injury. Chalmers scored five points and had three steals.
About Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts (0-1) fell 68-65 in its season opener at Loyola-Marymount last Friday. ORU senior Ken Tutt scored a career-high 26 points in the effort, while Mid-Continent Conference Preseason Player of the Year Caleb Green recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Oral Roberts is coming off a 21-12 season in which it won the Mid-Continent Conference title with a 13-3 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1984. Green has been the Mid-Con Player of the Year each of the last two seasons. He and Tutt have been all-conference first teams selections each of the last three years.
The Series
Kansas leads the overall series with Oral Roberts, 7-3, but the teams have not played since 1993. The Jayhawks have won two straight in the series, which dates back to 1974. In the last meeting, Jan. 14, 1993, Kansas won 140-72 and the 68-point margin is the second widest margin of victory in Kansas history – 115-45 vs. Brown Jan. 3, 1989.
Up Next
Kansas opens the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational when it plays host to Towson on Sunday, Nov. 19. Tip from Allen Fieldhouse is at 7 p.m. and the game can be seen on Jayhawk TV. The Jayhawks will be playing four games within a week as they host Tennessee State Nov. 21 before traveling to Las Vegas to play Ball State Nov. 24 and top-ranked Florida Nov. 25.
